When I injured my foot mid-January, I'd held onto hope that I'd still be able to do the Chilly Half Marathon. As the race day got closer I realized that even if I was better, running or even walking 21K would be a bad idea. I'd wait till the expo to decide, but it looked like I would be dropping down to running or walking the Frosty 5K. One week before race day while I was getting fitted for an air cast I realized I'd be doing neither. At this point spending the day standing on the sidelines would likely be tasking enough. After asking on social media, I was thankfully able to find someone that would use and enjoy my bib in exchange for keeping the race shirt (my favourite ever).
So, like at Robbie Burns, on race day I packed up my camera and joined in on the festivities!
So, like at Robbie Burns, on race day I packed up my camera and joined in on the festivities!
JPs Team was well represented at the Chilly Half / Frosty 5! This was only a portion of us that made it for the photo.
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Maria, Kate and Leanne (paced by Michelle) were racing the 5K.
The speedy start of the Frosty 5K. Rachel Hannah is in the middle here in black, white and red.
This photo (by Kelly Doyle) was posted by Canadian Running Magazine. Look who was an unintentional photo bomber to the right?
After watching the start of the 5K, I booted it (pardon the air cast pun) over to the half marathon turn to catch sight of JPsTeam
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And then the wait. I tried to position myself on Lakeshore between the turn up Brant for the 5K racers and the return of the half racers who'd gone west, turned and would be passing by.
5K leader Phil Parrot-Migas would go on to win the men's 5K with a time of 15:00
One of my favourite photos of the day. These are the facial expressions of 5K runners.
Rachel Hannah killing it as she approaches the final turn to the finish. She'll go on to snag the women's first place win with a time of 17:10.
Olympians Reid Coolsaet (bib #1) looking strong. He would go on to win the men's half with a time of 1:05:16
Olympian Krista Duchene is one of my favourite people to watch race. I took a quick burst of photos as she ran this stretch and the majority of them showed her feet literally flying over the pavement. Look at that stride! Krista would go on to become the women's winner with a time of 1:16:09.
After snapping pics of the lead packs for each race, I headed up Brant towards the finish, glancing back for runners as I went. Well, I guess I should have upped my pace as about half way there I looked back to see Maria flying towards me!
This girl simply amazes me. Coming back from injury and hardly running for weeks and she almost PBs.
Unannounced to Leanne, Michelle had been pacing her to a PB. She didn't know till Michelle told her on the final stretch.
Leanne hanging on knowing that PB is in sight! Michelle calling her encouragement.
Although Kate was a little harder to spot in her baby blue, she always manages to shine with a smile and make the race look effortless
Simply stellar performances
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Cheering in Melly and Andrea (Kate and Maria in the background)
Incredible performances by these JPsTeam members who fought some strong winds along the lakeshore route.
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Maybe next year I'll be back to get one of these. For now, I'm focused on healing, having fun and getting ready to be recovered!
